BlackBerry Thunder could arrive early

It looks like what we told you almost three weeks ago has not been confirmed. The BlackBerry Bold is going to be pushed back until the September time frame. While it is possible that some carriers might get limited quantities of the Bold a bit sooner, the bulk of the initial release units will not arrive until mid-September in all likelihood. According to various sources, it seems that problems with the radio code that handles the roaming and searching seems to be the root of the problem that they are facing at the moment.

As for the Thunder, which is RIM’s iPhone-like BlackBerry device, the release of it has been pushed up a bit, as well. According to the latest whisperings that we are hearing, the Thunder will now make its debut into the U.S. market on Verizon in mid-October, but significant numbers may not be available until toward the end of October. Still, the mid-October release would be a few weeks earlier than expected.

While the mid-October early release is a surprise, expect Verizon to shift into high gear on their marketing efforts for the Thunder as soon as early September. The Thunder is a pivotal product for RIM, and they have all hands on deck to make the launch as quickly as possible to help carriers that don’t have the iPhone 3G to be able to offer the Thunder as an option.

In another surprise, it would seem that the name “Thunder” will stick and for the first time ever, a BlackBerry will be released with the same name as the code name used during the development process.

In other news, the Curve will receive a make over in the form of a new color. The “Sunset Curve,” as it has become known, is a version of the 8320 that is in a new color that RIM calls “Black Emerald” and it looks pretty cool. Orange in Europe is already starting to move 8320s with this new look.